In July 2009, a resident of Kamloops submitted a complaint about motorcycle and other off-road vehicle use resulting in vegetation and habitat destruction across the province. The complainant identified the Sonora Road area east of Kamloops as an example, asserting that off-road vehicle (ORV) use has caused:
- Extensive soil disturbance
- Erosion
- Potential for slope destabilization
- Disturbance of wildlife
- Damage to aesthetics
- Conflicts with hiking and wildlife viewing
- Destruction of rare dryland vegetation
- Destruction of key wildlife habitat
The complainant gave several examples of substantive and obvious alteration of the environment by ORV users. For example, in the Sonora Road area, sagebrush areas have been impacted by ORV users driving in ever-increasing circles in formerly undisturbed meadows—either flattening the sagebrush or uprooting it entirely.
In May 2009, the Upper Nechako Wilderness Council (the complainant) submitted a complaint that Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (the licensee) had harvested timber within a lakeshore management reserve used by the complainant’s member businesses for guided-wilderness moose hunts and hike-in fishing. The complainant said the proximity of the cutblock to the lake has caused its member businesses to abandon the lake as part of their wilderness-business operations.
The complainant is concerned that, under the Forest and Range Practices Act, a forest licensee has the authority to make land use decisions that can negatively impact the values of its member businesses. As a result, the complainant is worried about what may happen in future to other lakes its members use for similar business purposes.
On October 13, 2009, the Forest Practices Board received a complaint that some range tenure holders were not respecting an agreement about a no-grazing buffer zone in the Meadow Valley and that government’s enforcement of that agreement had not been effective. The Board consulted with the complainant and the Ministry of Forests and Range (MFR) to try to settle the complaint. This is the resulting resolution report.
A group of residents of Slocan Park submitted a complaint about a British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) timber licence regarding harvest and harvest plans for four cutblocks in Slocan Park. The complainants were concerned that BCTS had not consulted with them effectively and that BCTS would not monitor road building and harvesting. As well, among their many other concerns, the complainants were worried that harvest would impact water supply, terrain stability, visual quality and fire risk.
The Board investigation considered the following:
- Did BCTS provide an effective opportunity for review and comment on the proposed cutblocks?
- Were assessments and subsequent prescribed measures reasonable?
- Will there be an unacceptable increase in fire risk?
- What is being done to ensure compliance with legislation and to mitigate impacts?
The owner of a private campground on Lake Koocanusa submitted a complaint to the Forest Practices Board on August 22, 2008. The complainant had concerns with a campfire ban, imposed on July 28, 2008, covering parts of the Rocky Mountain Forest District and the Lake Koocanusa area, which is southeast of Cranbrook, BC.
This investigation is about cattle grazing on the Overton-Moody Range Unit near Grand Forks. The complainant asserts that the range licensee did not move its cattle according to its range use plan (RUP); that there was over-grazing, over-browsing and streamside damage; that a salt block was misplaced; that some fences were not maintained; and that government management was insufficient.
The Board found that the licensee moved its cattle on time, but because of inadequate fencing and public tampering, about 20 head of cattle periodically returned to one pasture for weeks after their scheduled removal date.
